AI First with Adam and Andy

The AI ecosystem is undergoing rapid realignment as major players - including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon - reshape partnerships and product strategies. This episode unpacks the implications of Microsoft integrating Anthropic’s Claude Cowork into Copilot, signaling a shift toward agent-driven workflows and intensified competition among frontier model labs. While Anthropic has...

In this episode of AI First with Adam and Andy, Zapier CEO Wade Foster breaks down the evolution from traditional automation to agentic systems. He draws a clear distinction between deterministic workflows and AI agents, explaining why both matter and how leading companies can combine them to improve reliability, speed, and scale. Foster shares how Zapier is repositioning for the AI era, from buil...

AI agents are rapidly transforming how consumers interact with the internet, collapsing traditional steps like search, comparison, and decision-making into a single, agent-driven workflow. With a growing majority of consumers already using AI tools, this shift is not incremental, it represents a structural change in digital behavior, where agents increasingly act as the primary interface between u...

In this AI First mini episode, Adam Brotman and Andy Sack explore the real-world implications of AI agents through Adam’s hands-on experience building one with OpenClaw.  They break down what makes an agent different from traditional AI tools, including proactive behavior, memory, computer use, and the ability to operate independently. Adam shares both the excitement and the friction, from complex...

In this episode of AI First with Adam and Andy, Thanx founder and CEO Zach Goldstein explains why loyalty has become a strategic imperative for restaurants navigating the rise of delivery marketplaces like DoorDash and Uber Eats. Goldstein argues that while third-party platforms are now unavoidable for customer acquisition, restaurants must prioritize direct relationships with guests to protect ma...

In this focused mini episode, Adam Brotman and Andy Sack explore how Claude Co-Work is reshaping executive productivity and redefining the future of work. Moving beyond traditional prompt-and-response AI tools, they describe what changes when AI operates directly on your desktop with browser access, document parsing, and step-by-step task execution. Through real examples, from synthesizing board m...

As AI capabilities accelerate at a weekly pace, enterprise leaders face a critical question: how do you choose the right AI tools for your organization without compromising security or governance? In this episode, Andy Sack and Adam Brotman provide a CEO-level playbook for becoming AI-first while navigating existing enterprise technology environments. They argue that this moment requires leadershi...

This episode of AI First with Adam and Andy is an intentional experiment. The script, ideas, and analysis are entirely Adam Brotman and Andy Sack’s own. The on-screen hosts and voice delivery were generated using AI tools as part of a hands-on exploration of what these technologies can and cannot yet do. It is not perfect, and that is precisely the point. In this conversation, Adam and Andy tackle...

As AI enters 2026, many enterprises are still measuring success through narrow efficiency gains and license utilization, while missing the larger opportunity for growth and innovation.  In this episode of AI First with Adam and Andy, Paul Roetzer breaks down why AI transformation is fundamentally a leadership and change management challenge, not a technology rollout. The conversation explores why...

In this mini episode of AI First with Adam and Andy, Adam Brotman and Andy Sack explore the growing conversation around AI agents and why most executives are still waiting for something that is not fully here yet. They explain why coding agents are advancing fastest and how those lessons apply to non-technical leaders across strategy, marketing, operations, and analytics.   Drawing on a hands-on e...

In this inside look from an AI First community call, Keith Fairclough, CIO of Cabi, explains how a direct sales women’s apparel brand built AI literacy across the company before chasing shiny use cases.  He details the executive bootcamp that aligned leadership, the in person training that drove adoption, and the practices that sustained momentum, including weekly office hours and monthly AI compe...

In this episode of AI First with Adam and Andy, Greg Gottesman of Pioneer Square Labs shares hard-earned lessons from nearly three decades as a venture capitalist, founder, and startup studio operator. Greg explains why startups rarely fail due to product or technology challenges, even in today’s AI-driven landscape, and why cost-effective distribution remains the defining constraint for success....

Are we in an AI bubble, or at the early stages of the most consequential technology shift of our lifetime? In this episode of AI First with Adam and Andy, Adam Brotman and Andy Sack unpack the tension executives are feeling as AI investment, valuations, and infrastructure spending accelerate at historic speed. They explore why AI can feel both economically fragile and fundamentally real at the sam...

In this special annual predictions episode of AI First with Adam and Andy , hosts Adam Brotman and Andy Sack are joined by Rose Kelly, Head of AI Consulting at Forum3, for a fast-paced, candid look at what 2026 will bring for artificial intelligence, business leadership, work, and society. The conversation explores whether CEOs will be hired or fired based on AI strategy, if the AI boom is headed...

OpenAI’s “code red” memo marks a pivotal moment in the AI landscape. In this episode of AI First with Adam and Andy, Adam Brotman and Andy Sack analyze why Sam Altman is sounding the alarm and how the rapid rise of Gemini 3.1 and Google DeepMind is reshaping competitive dynamics across the AI ecosystem. The conversation explores what this shift means for ChatGPT’s long-held dominance, whether Open...

The 2025 Year in Review episode of AI First with Adam and Andy offers an in-depth look at what truly shaped the AI landscape this year. Hosts Adam Brotman and Andy Sack revisit the predictions they made at the end of 2024 and evaluate how those expectations aligned with real developments across search, agentic systems, generative video, large language models, enterprise adoption, and the rapid exp...

In this episode of AI First with Adam and Andy , we sit down with Benji Koltai, co-founder and CEO of Galley Solutions, to unpack how AI is transforming one of the most complex operational environments: the kitchen. Benji shares the personal story that led him to build Galley and reveals why most food service companies still operate using analog systems and spreadsheets. He explains how Galley’s r...

In this episode of AI First with Adam and Andy , Andy Sack and Adam Brotman unpack one of the most common questions they hear from executives: which AI model should your organization use? Andy explains why comfort, workflow, and use case matter more than brand loyalty, and why toggling between models is a powerful way to learn their strengths. The conversation turns to the launch of Gemini 3, incl...

In this episode of AI First with Adam and Andy, hosts Adam Brotman and Andy Sack explore a recent New York Times opinion piece by Eric Schmidt and Andrew Sirota titled “Use AI to Reinvigorate Democracy, Not Replace It.” The article highlights examples from Albania and Taiwan, showing how governments are already using AI to reduce corruption, analyze constituent feedback, and create more responsive...

Adam Brotman and Andy Sack unpack the true meaning of AI First . Too many executives still treat AI as a tool for efficiency. But as Andy explains, AI is an “alien intelligence” that reshapes how organizations think, plan, and operate. Together, Adam and Andy explore the difference between being AI-curious and being truly AI-first, a shift that requires courage, cultural change, and daily use acro...

In this episode of AI First with Adam and Andy , IgniteTech CEO Eric Vaughan offers a candid inside look at one of the boldest AI transformations in enterprise software. After realizing that AI was an existential shift for his company, Vaughan led IgniteTech and its sister companies through a sweeping cultural reinvention that ultimately turned over 80% of staff to build what he calls an AI DNA or...

In this bite-size episode of AI First with Adam and Andy, the hosts tackle one of the most common misconceptions in enterprise AI adoption: that you need a perfect data lake before you can begin. Adam and Andy explain why this “wait until the data is ready” mindset slows innovation and how forward-thinking leaders are getting results now by experimenting with the data they already have. Through re...

In this episode of AI First with Adam and Andy, Adam Brotman and Andy Sack explore what it really takes for organizations to transform with AI. They argue that the journey doesn’t begin with data lakes, councils, or playbooks, it begins with leadership. The conversation dives into why CEOs need their own “aha moment,” how to empower internal change agents, and what it looks like when teams stop wa...

The global economy is undergoing a seismic shift that rivals the Industrial Revolution in scale and impact. In this episode of AI First with Adam and Andy , the hosts dive into the massive recent deals shaping the AI landscape, from Nvidia’s multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI to OpenAI’s unprecedented infrastructure agreement with Oracle. Far from being financial hype, these moves point to a...

In this special three-part episode, AI First with Adam and Andy follows Influence Mobile CEO Dan Todd through a 90-day journey to become an AI-first company. Listeners will hear how a 65-person team with $40–50 million in revenue moved from scattered experimentation to structured adoption. Dan shares how they introduced enterprise ChatGPT and Gemini, tracked usage, and built momentum through Slack...